Political Wire

Biden Called Again to Mourn with City Stricken by Grief

May 29, 2022 at 6:44 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are hoping to console a city stricken by grief and anger when they meet with families affected by the mass shooting at a Texas elementary school that killed 19 students and two teachers,” the AP reports.

“The visit to Uvalde on Sunday is Biden’s second trip in as many weeks to comfort a community in mourning after staggering loss. On May 17, he was in Buffalo, New York, to meet with victims’ families and condemn white supremacy after a shooter espousing the racist ‘replacement theory’ killed 10 Black people at a supermarket.”

Los Angeles Times: President Biden, first lady heading to Texas to meet with Uvalde families.

Trump Is Trapped in the Past

May 29, 2022 at 6:43 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Dan Balz: “Some Republicans have simply had it with Trump as a result of what happened when his loyalists attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Others probably still admire him but want to move on to more traditional Republican issues. Others may want him to be president again but feel that the political establishment, the media and Democrats won’t let that happen.”

“That’s a rocky foundation upon which to build a presidential candidacy. Trump isn’t going away. But he is in danger of seeing his power and influence eroded as rank-and-file Republicans assess a future both with him and without him as their leader.”

Greg Abbott Cut Spending for Mental Health

May 28, 2022 at 5:02 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that the Uvalde school shooter had a ‘mental health challenge’ and the state needed to “do a better job with mental health” — yet in April he slashed $211 million from the department that oversees mental health programs,” NBC News reports.

“In addition, Texas ranked last out of all 50 states and the District of Columbia for overall access to mental health care.”

Police Chief Who Waited Had Active Shooter Training

May 28, 2022 at 3:52 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The police chief who officials said decided to wait to confront the gunman at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, completed an active shooter training course in December,” NBC News reports.

Inside McConnell’s Long Effort to Block Gun Control

May 28, 2022 at 3:08 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “The Standard Gravure massacre provided an early glimpse of how McConnell — now the Republican Senate minority leader — would handle mass shootings and their aftermath over the next three decades, consistently working to delay, obstruct or prevent most major gun control legislation from passing Congress.“

“McConnell would go on to follow a similar playbook time and time again during his seven terms in Congress, offering vague promises of action, often without any specifics, only to be followed by no action or incremental measures that avoided new gun regulations. As a Republican leader, he also helped dissuade his conference — as after the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. — from supporting gun legislation and, as majority leader, refused to bring up significant gun control measures for a vote.”

What Are You Willing to Do?

May 28, 2022 at 3:05 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

London Review of Books: “If it is a real danger that civil war may threaten democracy, it is also a real danger that democracy may die because its defenders refuse to start one.”

Trump’s Fundraising Wanes

May 28, 2022 at 3:02 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “Mr. Trump remains broadly popular among Republicans and has a political war chest well north of $100 million. But there has been a less visible sign of slippage: Mr. Trump’s vaunted digital fund-raising machine has begun to slow. An analysis by The New York Times shows that his average daily online contributions have declined every month for the last seven months that federal data is available.”

“Mr. Trump has gone from raising an average of $324,633 per day in September 2021 on WinRed, the Republican donation-processing portal, to $202,185 in March 2022 — even as he has ramped up his political activities and profile.”

Could Trump Tank Gun Reform Negotiations?

May 28, 2022 at 3:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Playbook: “There’s no doubt that Trump’s endorsement power has waned, but could his words shaming anyone looking at gun restrictions chill fledgling bipartisan talks on Capitol Hill? We’ll soon find out. These talks already face a serious uphill climb, coming just months before the midterms.”

Grand Jury Prepares to Hear Testimony in Trump Probe

May 28, 2022 at 8:28 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Atlanta Journal Constitution: “The Fulton County District Attorney’s wide-ranging criminal investigation into efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election is heating up, weeks after the seating of a special purpose grand jury with subpoena power.”

“Jurors are slated to hear closed-door testimony from Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Thursday, according to his subpoena.”

Democrats See Progress With Manchin in Last-Ditch Talks

May 28, 2022 at 8:25 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Democrats are hoping quiet negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin can quickly produce an agreement to advance key elements of President Biden’s economic agenda before a narrowing window to pass ambitious legislation ahead of the midterm elections closes,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Mr. Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, and Mr. Schumer, a Democrat from New York, have held a series of meetings in recent weeks on a package focused on lowering prescription drug costs, raising taxes and bolstering energy production in the U.S.”

“While the substance of those conversations remain closely held, some Democrats and outside analysts now expect a possible agreement could raise roughly $1 trillion in revenue and spend about $500 billion over a decade. With roughly half the new revenue dedicated toward reducing the deficit, the spending would focus on tax incentives for reducing carbon emissions and some support for fossil fuels, as well as an extension of subsidies for purchasing health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.”

Flashback Exchange of the Day

May 27, 2022 at 11:26 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The New York Times quotes from a conversation between then-President Donald Trump with his acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, after a far-right gunman killed 23 people at a Walmart store in El Paso in 2019.

TRUMP: What are we going to do about assault rifles?

MULVANEY: Not a damn thing.

TRUMP: Why?

MULVANEY: Because, you would lose.

Quote of the Day

May 27, 2022 at 11:17 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“We all know they want total gun confiscation, know that this would be a first step. Once they get the first step, they’ll take the second step, the third, the fourth, and then you’ll have a whole different look at the Second Amendment.”

— Donald Trump, quoted by the Washington Post, at the NRA convention in Texas.

Baseball Manager Won’t Take Field for National Anthem

May 27, 2022 at 6:29 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler said he will not take the field for the national anthem at tonight’s game against the Cincinnati Red or any game “until I feel better about the direction of our country.”

Said Kapler: “I don’t believe it is representing us well right now.”

He added: “Every time I place my hand over my heart and remove my hat, I’m participating in a self congratulatory glorification of the ONLY country where these mass shootings take place.”

Abbott Says He Was Misled When Praising Uvalde Police

May 27, 2022 at 5:51 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) “claimed that law enforcement who responded to the scene of the Robb Elementary School shooting provided him with inaccurate information since Tuesday,” Insider reports.

Said Abbott: “Yes. I was misled. I am livid about what happened. The information I was given turned out, in part, to be inaccurate, and I am absolutely livid about that.”

Abbott initially praised the “quick response” of law enforcement and said it “could have been worse” without their actions.

Senator Runs Into Locked Door Trying to Dodge Questions

May 27, 2022 at 5:35 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), who has taken more than $1 million in campaign contributions from the National Rifle Association, ran into a locked door as he tried to dodge CNN’s questions about gun legislation.

50 Subpoenas Expected In Georgia Probe of Trump

May 27, 2022 at 5:23 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“As many as 50 witnesses are expected to be subpoenaed by a special grand jury that will begin hearing testimony next week in the criminal investigation into whether former President Donald Trump and his allies violated Georgia laws in their efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state,” the New York Times reports.

“The process, which is set to begin on Wednesday, is likely to last weeks, bringing dozens of subpoenaed witnesses, both well-known and obscure, into a downtown Atlanta courthouse bustling with extra security because of threats directed at the staff of the Fulton County district attorney, Fani Willis.”

CNN: Georgia district attorney investigating Trump has subpoenaed officials from secretary of state’s office.

With Candidates Like This Democrats Might Have a Chance

May 27, 2022 at 4:41 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Herschel Walker (R) won the Republican Senate nomination in Georgia this week after mostly avoiding his lesser known rivals.

But he wasted no time in showing he’s a deeply-flawed candidate.

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Cuellar, Cisneros Runoff Remains Too Close to Call

May 27, 2022 at 4:16 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Texas primary runoff between Democratic U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar and his progressive challenger, Jessica Cisneros, remained too early to call Friday,” the AP reports.

“Cuellar led Cisneros by 175 votes, or 0.4 percentage points, out of 45,209 ballots counted as of 3 p.m. ET Friday.”